Salvationists have been praying.
Some are cranking it up with all-night prayer meetings. Other are
getting groups together and praying 24/7. Many around the globe are praying
every Thursday morning for The Salvation Army.
God is stirring something up. I feel like I'm in a large pot,
sitting on the stove, with the temperature gradually getting hotter. Some
of my Salvo friends are turning into heated up molecules that are starting to
bounce off each other, spreading the anticipation. The pot is
getting ready to boil over. The gates of hell are being pried open...
*****
Let me side-track for a minute with a pertinent Scripture.
After Elijah's brave encounter with the prophets of Baal, he went
up Mount Carmel (see 1 Kings 18:41-46). He told Ahab that there was the sound
of heavy rain. What a second! What was Elijah talking about?! There was no
rain. The land was dry. The vegetation was struggling. The Israelites had not
seen rain for some time.
But; Elijah could hear the sound of heavy rain.
He went up the mountain and put his face between his knees (quite
flexible) and prayed. He asked one of his servants to go and look toward the
sea. The servant came back and mentioned to Elijah that nothing was there.
Elijah told the servant to go back and check.
Nothing.
No rain.
Zilch.
Elijah seemingly unwavering in his belief in the 'non-existent'
rain, tells the servant to once again go back and check. In fact the servant is
asked of Elijah to go the sea and check for rain seven times.
The seventh time the servant comes back with a different report.
He says to Elijah that he has seen a cloud as small as a fist rising from the
sea.
Not long later, the sky grew dark with clouds, the wind stirred up
and heavy rain started pounding down.
God sent the rain.
Elijah must have looked like a goose. He must have sounded like a
'wacko'. Have a think about it for a minute. There IS NO rain! Is this man a
fruit-loop? What man, in their right mind, would suggest even for a moment that
heavy rain was coming when there was not a cloud in sight?
*****
Let me tell you Salvation Army - the rain is coming. The pot is
going to boil over. Amazing, passionate, innovative, Spirit-filled ministry
will permeate the entire Salvation Army! Salvation of the lost with be the
norm. New initiatives to bind up the broken-hearted will increase. The
decision-making will speed up. The soldiership enrolment list will be growing
too quick to properly update. The PR departments will preach the whole gospel.
Salvation Army publications will regularly print radical stories of people
finding hope and full salvation in Christ. The Salvation Army will shift from machine to movement.
The rain is coming.
You may not be able to see it. You may not be able to sense it.
You may even doubt what I am writing on this blog. But for what it's worth,
mark my words, the rain is coming.
If you are a Salvationist, it's time to understand the rain is
coming. You must pray. You must up the ante of prayer. You must seek to
characterise holiness in the footsteps of Jesus. You need the indwelling power
of the Holy Spirit.
The rain is coming.
Go out and have a look.
Can you see it yet?
*****
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